Chapter 1

The sun was beating down on me from the clear, light blue sky as I stood on the side of the road. My blue eyes gazing at the bulletin board, that said welcome to Springfield, Illinois. It was the nearest to a government territory; I had been in the past few months. Standing next to the sign had me on edge.

I didn't want to be anywhere near the government or its structures, but I was desperate. Walking cautiously towards the city, it resembled a ghost town. The eerie mood grew as I passed rundown buildings and homes. Several doors had been whisked off their hinges; others were completely missing walls and porches. It was a harsh reminder that those 'Things' had ripped so many innocent people from their homes, my family included.

Roaming around the town, I watched for a shelter with food and clothes. Scanning around this town was worse for wear as more and more places came into my view. They seemed more like demolished buildings than actual places people once lived in. I passed several shops until a clothes shop came into my view. I quickly neared the store stepping inside, not minding the glass everywhere and the fact that half of the store was missing.

The store had been raided, the glass from the front window littered the tile floor. What once seemed like creme colored wallpaper was only wood walls showing. Several mannequins were toppled over the place. I glanced around the store hoping to see clothes but unfortunately, I couldn't. The clothes here must have been taken and used by the government. This wasn't uncommon finding places destroyed and all the resources gone. But out of luck, I found a bandanna to wrap around my dark brown hair so it doesn't get in my way.

I stepped out of the store to look for a place to stay. 5 minutes later, I found myself outside an old apartment complex, it was made out of red bricks and on the 3rd floor there was a broken window. The house I used to live in seemed far away at this moment. I was glad this apartment had at least some of its floors. It looked like it wasn't going to fall down if I breathed too hard which was an improvement.

Thanking my parents for forcing me to take gymnastic lessons, I effortlessly got into the apartment. Looking around I recognized that the family that lived here before must have been taken by those creatures. There were countless objects on the floor, blood being the main thing. Furniture was upside down, picture frames were stepped on, and a small tv was laying on the ground after being launched on the wall. This scene reminded me of the day the outsiders came for my family. Blinking I willed the tears to not come. Crying won't help me stay alive, only moving and not remembering will.

Slowly the adrenaline rush that had helped me, keep going despite the lack of sleep vanished. Finding the nearest bed I collapsed into it, finally giving to the embrace of sleep.

I was 7 again running through my mother's garden with the wind blowing in my face. It felt like I was in a colorful wonderland full of blooms from sunflowers to lilies.

''Ruelle, it's time to come back inside.'' The sound of my mother's voice came from the doorway of the house. Pouting I stomped my foot on the ground.

''But mommy, I just came outside and haven't even checked on Ruffles. He might be missing me right now.'' My mother just laughed at my attempts to stay outside.

''Your dad already checked on him and he's a bee who's extremely busy just like you. And if you don't get into the house now you won't get to come to the city with me.'' At the possibility of not going to the city, I ran into the house.

The next time I woke up it was to see the sun going down. Looking at the room, I realized that it looked like my old room. Tears I tried to hold in came out like a waterfall.

At that moment I cried for all I lost. I cried for my friends and family. I cried for the fact that I never told them. And now they were gone, the guilt was eating away at me. I relived all that I had left.

The first memory I had was being in a lab. My parents were scientists who wanted to make the perfect weapon. They lived and breathed their work so much that everything else didn't matter.

I remember spending every waking moment in that lab with them. But now I am thankful to them. I have learned a lot which is keeping me alive.

I hated to cry, I never did and I'd vowed I never would. For me, crying was a sign of vulnerability. But here I was, sobbing my eyes out like a newborn. I have never cried in front of people, never since that day ...

I was so lost in my thoughts, I didn't hear the door opening until it was too late. A female walked into the room. When she noticed me, her expression was one of shock and horror. For minutes what seemed like hours, we stared at each other.

″Who are you, and what are you doing here?″ We both asked at the same time. The girl had pink hair that contrasted with her dark skin and light grey eyes.

″Um. Okay, do you live here? If so, I'm sorry but I need a place to stay. ″ The girl said, gesturing around the room.

I crossed my arms across my chest. ″Who are you? And why do you need to stay here?-″

″I'm trying to hide from the aliens. I'm Kathleen.″ She said aliens with such hatred. I sensed a smile tug at my lips, and before Kathleen had time to react, I had a knife at her neck.

″Tell no one your name and don't trust instantly if you want to survive. For all you know, I could be an alien posing to be human,″ I seethed in her ear. Her eyes were the size of saucers as she stared at me, and she hastily nodded her head.

″I-I understand just let go of my neck-″ The sound of blades interrupted Kathleen mid-sentence. I let go of her neck and crept to the window. A glance up at the sky showed darkness with no stars visible. But what was visible was a helicopter with two suns vertically across each other.

I was paralyzed with fear and horror as I gazed at the helicopter, behind me Kathleen took in a sharp breath.

″We'll die won't we at the hands of those creatures, how pitiful.″ Letting out a breath, I focused on Kathleen's words. In a voice I hoped didn't show my fear, I responded to Kathleen's words by shaking her shoulders.

″No, we will not die because I won't let it happen. We can get out of this. We need to stop panicking and focus on leaving, as soon as possible.″ Kathleen let out a breath, trying to compose herself.

″Okay what do we do now?″

″Run.″